Pardon My French: 20 Common French Phrases for Travelers

Pardon My French: 20 Common French Phrases for Travelers

August 9, 2016

|

Of all the languages I’ve learned, French has undoubtedly been the hardest. When I first moved to Paris, I didn’t speak French very well, though I added words to my budding French lexicon daily. I had 8 years of high school and college Spanish to thank for my relative facility with the vocabulary and grammar construction.

The shared Latin roots of English and French also made me think that if I didn’t know the French word, I could get away with using the English word in a heavy French accent. Three out of ten times, it worked. But enter the beloved faux amis, or false cognates, and it wasn’t always a lifesaver. Je suis excité! — I may have intended to express my excitement for something, but to the French ear, I just said, “I’m aroused!” It took a few embarrassing, albeit hilarious situations to discover the difference, but I now know better than to befriend a cognate again!

False cognates aside, French, as gorgeous and romantic as it is, is not an easy language to grasp or speak. In fact, most times, written and spoken French seem like two entirely different languages. But learning a few basic phrases can make all the difference in your travels and can even shelter you from the infamous rudeness that is often associated with France. Simply trying to speak shows reverence for their culture and appreciation for the language — a gesture the French fully support.

Always open with a polite bonjour (hello or good morning) or bonsoir (good evening), depending on the hour of the day. Even if you’re only going to ask a quick question, it’s respectful to acknowledge and greet the person first. Also, it’s likely that once they hear your accent, they will switch to English, but you have to take the first step. Don’t forget the merci beaucoup (thank you very much) afterwards.

Leave your inhibitions at home. Remember these common phrases. Befriend false cognates, if you must. But at the very least…TRY.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider sharing it:

Related

I’m Nyssa. I started The Cultureur in August 2012, almost a decade after contracting the travel bug while on a Model United Nations conference in Russia and Finland.
And from there, when I took the first step in solo international travel and decided to study abroad in college,
there was no looking back, and I ended up living, studying, working, and volunteering in 6 countries (the U.S., the UK, France, Iceland, India, and Germany) and traveling to 50+ others.

THE LIST

ARCHIVES

ABOUT ME

Hi, I'm Nyssa.

Welcome to The Cultureur!

From the grand aesthetics of a Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris to the aromatic flavors of street food in Mexico City, The Cultureur bridges the richness of both worlds into a redefined idea of luxury, effortlessly maneuvering through the satisfaction each brings and appealing to an audience that values experiential luxury travel.